The Bose SoundLink Max is a portable stereo speaker that's designed to be both compact and loud. Its premium price tag comes with a bevy of features and a sound that helps you bring the party wherever you go (and keep it going, as the manufacturer advertises nearly all-day battery life). It's dust-resistant and submergible in water, too, so it seems well-suited to rainy camping trips and wild pool parties alike.
Our Verdict
The Bose SoundLink Max has a punchy default sound profile with balanced mids and highs. While its bass response is solid for a speaker of its size, a boost to the high-bass helps reinforce the attack of kicks and basslines. The smooth mids and detailed highs help bring out vocals and lead instruments well, too, ensuring they don't get lost in the mix. Unlike previous SoundLink speakers, this speaker can play stereo content, and its directivity is decent for a front-facing speaker. Plus, it can get loud enough to soundtrack spontaneous dance parties without compressing too much at max volume. A graphic EQ and presets are also available via the app for more precise sound tuning.
- Gets pretty loud, with minimal compression.
- Graphic EQ and presets in app.
- Directivity isn't the best.
- No room correction feature.
The Bose SoundLink Max is okay for videos and movies. It can get loud enough to soundtrack your movie night in a pinch, and its decent directivity and stereo capabilities help with locating dialogue within the stereo field. While it lacks a deep bass for cinematic sound effects, there's plenty of detail in the mid and treble range to bring out dialogue. Audiovisual synchronization error is relatively low with both iOS and Android devices, too, so you don't need to worry about sync issues between your audio and video.
- Gets pretty loud, with minimal compression.
- Graphic EQ and presets in app.
- Directivity isn't the best.
- No room correction feature.
The Bose SoundLink Max is great for podcasts. It's easy to carry around with one hand and gets loud enough to ensure your favorite podcast hosts aren't drowned out by construction or household appliances. Voices and speech are rendered accurately, thanks to its detailed mid- and treble-range reproduction. While its directivity is decent, you'll need to position yourself carefully to ensure you get consistent audio delivery.
- Sturdy, portable design with detachable carrying handle.
- Gets pretty loud, with minimal compression.
- Over 15 hours of continuous battery life.
- Graphic EQ and presets in app.
- No room correction feature.
The Bose SoundLink Max doesn't feature any voice assistant integration, so it's not suitable for this use.
The Bose SoundLink Max is great for outdoor use. It's designed with portability in mind, and its IP67 certification against water and dust damage means it's prepared for whatever the elements have to offer. With over 15 hours of battery life, you won't have to fret about finding an outlet outdoors, either. With plenty of volume on tap and decent directivity, you can treat your outdoor gathering to stereo sound with minimal compression at max volume.
- Sturdy, portable design with detachable carrying handle.
- IP67 rating for submergibility in water and protection against dust.
- Gets pretty loud, with minimal compression.
- Over 15 hours of continuous battery life.
- Directivity isn't the best.
Changelog
- Updated Jan 08, 2026:
We've added a comparison to the LG xboom Bounce in the Voice Assistant box.
- Updated Jul 08, 2025:
Updates to the Controls, Frequency Response Accuracy, and the App sections have been made to reflect firmware 4.12.4 retests.
- Updated Jun 25, 2025:
The Differences Between Variants and Style boxes were updated to add the 'Citrus Yellow' colorway.
- Updated May 01, 2025:
We mentioned the Lodge Solar Speaker 4 Series 2 in the Battery section of this review.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bose SoundLink Max is available in three color variants: 'Black,' 'Blue Dusk,' and 'Citrus Yellow.' We tested the 'Blue Dusk' variant, but expect all color variants to perform similarly. You can see our unit's label here.
If you encounter another variant, please let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The Bose SoundLink Max is one of the larger speakers in the SoundLink lineup. While it's larger and heavier than the Bose SoundLink Flex and the SoundLink Mini II Special Edition, it's still very portable and comes with a detachable carrying strap. It has a more balanced default sound profile than either of these speakers, with a lower bass extension. While it's quite a bit pricier than these other Bose speakers, this price tag comes with improved battery life, soundstage performance, and a louder sound with less compression at max volume. Though there's a decent amount of punch in the low-end, users who want a bit more rumble and thump should check out the slightly heftier Brane X.
You can also see our recommendations for the best Bluetooth speakers, the best waterproof speakers, and the best Bluetooth speakers for bass.
The JBL Xtreme 4 and Bose SoundLink Max are both stylish and durable portable speakers with modern features. That said, the Bose is a better choice for most use cases, unless you plan on taking advantage of the JBL's longer battery life to take long hikes or own other JBL speakers you'd like to pair with. While the two speakers are similarly portable, the Bose has a more balanced sound overall, with a more prominent bass range and better directivity. It also features an aux input and lower latency with iOS and Android devices. That said, the JBL's 27 hours of battery life can't be overlooked, as it's almost double that of the Bose, and will surely be a deciding factor for users that value multi-day performance.
The Sonos Move 2 and Bose SoundLink Max are both portable but larger speakers with different strengths. The Sonos is designed as a Wi-Fi hub with a dedicated dock that you can also take outside. It sounds a bit more balanced out of the box, and you can even replace its battery down the line. The Bose has a longer-lasting battery and doesn't require an adapter to connect to analog line-in sources, but it can't connect to Wi-Fi.
The Bose SoundLink Plus is a better portable option than the Bose SoundLink Max, though the latter is a better choice for listening to music. While both speakers feature nylon carrying handles, the Plus is a fair bit lighter and smaller. The two have a very similar frequency response, though the Max has a bit more bass on tap. As the larger speaker, it can get louder without as much compression at max volume. It can also play back stereo content without downmixing to mono, which will be a boon for music lovers. Though the two speakers have a similar build quality, the Plus's longer battery life can make it a better companion for longer expeditions or camping trips, though be wary that it'll need the best part of five hours to charge.
The Bose SoundLink Max is a lighter weight speaker than the Sony ULT FIELD 5, with an integrated handle, compared to the Sony's removable strap. Which speaker is better depends on your preferences. Both are well-built with IP67 ratings. The Bose is primarily coated in silicone, while the Sony is wrapped in a durable mesh. Only the Sony will float, though. The controls on the Bose are more comprehensive, and there's support for voice assistants. The Bose has a more balanced default tuning than the Sony, but you can EQ either. The Sony has a more involved 10-band EQ, and lower Bluetooth latency, alongside support for LDAC for higher-quality streaming. While the Bose has a longer battery life, the Sony's 'Stamina' mode can extend the battery life much longer than the Bose.
Test Results
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Comments
Bose SoundLink Max: Main Discussion
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Let us know why you want us to review the product here, or encourage others to vote for this product. Comments transferred from merged discussions are also included.
Update: We’ve added a comparison to the LG xboom Bounce in the Voice Assistant box.
Thank you so much for your care Chris, well appreciated! (Nice to feel that Rtings team doesnt ignore our comments :))
Hi Bashar, thanks for the comment - I do remember your last comment concerning portability, too. It’s definitely an oversight on our part and I took note of it when you brought it up last time, after which it was added to our backlog. We are still planning on changing our portability scoring but unfortunately we do have a pretty substantial backlog to work through within our audio team. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes with even a simple-looking fix like this, and we want to make sure we have the resources to execute it well.
I agree, its very portable. I consider this to be substantially more portable than the Xtreme 4, its only slightly bulkier than my Charge 5.
Also an update on the firmware issue I was talking about before… I’ve since found its seems unrelated to the app, and it consistently occurs after restarting my phone. Its avoidable as long as I don’t restart my phone, which I rarely need to, so its not a huge problem for me now.
Hi there! I guess I had written about this in another “rtings” page before, but better to add here to share with more people. “Soundlink Max” (regarding its size and specs) is “The Best” outdoor speaker for me. (Unless you don’t plan a big party with +20-30 people, or ready to carry a +5kg bulkier speaker. For such occasions, I may advise Boombox 3 to all which I also use very happily) Its handle is very flexible -which actually makes its size around 3300 cm3- with 2.2kg weight. I think there should be a mistake about “Rtings” calculation of “Portability” rates. As I remember one of the Rtings engineers explained this as about having AC connection or not. As a result; while Soundlink Max has 8.9 Portability rate with this size and weight; Onyx Studio as an example has 9.0 portability rate with almost 3 times bigger size and 50% heavier weight. (Xtreme 2 has 9.3, Sonos Move 9.1, also with bigger sizes and heavier weights) AC Connection might be useful for “Battery” ratings for quicker charge or to get more power, but shouldn’t affect “Portability” or “Outdoor” ratings. (Especially with this weight of calculation) I know that might not be an easy job to change all calculations; but at least I wanted to share my opinion with all Rtings family. Thank you.
This product has been merged with Bose SoundLink Max Portable Speaker, Large IP67 Wa. Follow the discussion here.
Ah I see - seems more likely that this is an issue with your phone, though a bizarre one at that. Strange too that it’s not presenting you with the option to update to the latest FW. That said, we do also have all the same apps installed on our test phone and didn’t run into this issue, so it might be more due to 2.4GHz interference in your environment.
Update: The Differences Between Variants and Style boxes were updated to add the ‘Citrus Yellow’ colorway.
On the Bose app under Product Update, it says the Current Version is 4.3.30.
Apparently this version was released on 9 September 2024. And for the Bose app, it was last updated on 28 April 2025 according to the Google Play Store.
It is possible its just an issue with my phone. The only other apps I have that could intefere are JBL Partybox, JBL Portable, and Galaxy Wearable. I remember reading on reddit a while ago that it could be related to Bluetooth Low Energy interference from other apps, or some other issue related to how the Bose app handles BLE.
Would you mind providing us with the firmware version you’re using? I know an update just got rolled out a few days ago that wasn’t supposed to affect app compatibility at all but it might be worth looking into on our end.
I think its perfectly fair to compare the aux sound quality to the bluetooth sound quality on the same speaker. I can hear the aux signal is notably degraded while the bluetooth is fine on the Bose. Other speakers with aux inputs I’ve tried don’t have that issue. To compare with a similarly sized speaker, a friend of mine has a JBL Charge 3 or 4 (can’t remember exactly) and the aux input sounds fine on that one.
Hi eiglow! I have been using this speaker almost for a year and never had a problem like yours with its application. (Android) I assume there must be something related with your phone or operation system. I also wanna add that its not fair to compare sound quality with Partybox 120; they are from different league and for different purposes. (One is almost 15 times bigger than the other)
It seems there is some issue with the Bose app. Eventually the speaker refuse to connect with my phone, even though my phone connects fine to my other JBL speakers and bluetooth earbuds. When this issue happens, the only thing that helps is to uninstall the app, restart my phone, and factory reset the speaker.
Its really not ideal, because I want to turn off the annoying voice prompts, but I need the app for that, but the app makes my speaker unusable…
I bought this speaker yesterday. Overall I’m very happy with it and I agree with basically everything in the review.
I will add a bit that the review doesn’t cover, specifically about the aux input. Its not very good. Compared to my JBL Partybox 120, the latency is noticeably higher and the quality isn’t very good, it sounds like there’s some loss in the treble range. I’m sure this isn’t the cable’s fault because I compared the two speakers with the same cable and with the same media player device.
Also, there is a bit of hissing/noise when nothing is playing, but this is only audible if its close to you and you’re in a quiet room. Unlike other speakers like my JBL Charge 5 though, it doesn’t seem to go away after a few seconds, it just keeps going. This makes me think there could be some room for improvement in the power management.
The stereo separation is actually much better than I was expecting. I thought the single central tweeter would compromise it, but it seems like the dual woofers extend up quite a lot in frequency range. It sounds like the crossover point is really high. It almost sounds like the woofers are also acting as tweeters, or like there’s extra hidden-away tweeters. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it sounds really good.
I ended up choosing this speaker because it gets a fair bit louder than the JBL Charge 5 and having better bass while not being much bigger in terms of rectangular volume. It seems a fair bit smaller than the Xtreme 4 which I was also considering.
Hi eiglow
For stereo testing, we use specific Stereo Left and Stereo Right files in order to confirm the speaker stereo capabilities. For more information, you can read “Our Speaker Sound Tests” article.